JJ Putz apparently headed to...

the New York Mets

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...2008&fext=.jsp

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LAS VEGAS -- The Mets, Mariners and Indians appear to be on the verge of a three-team deal in which J.J. Putz would go to New York as the setup man to the newly acquired Francisco Rodriguez.

The particulars of the deal were still being worked out Wednesday night at the Bellagio, but MLB.com learned that if the deal goes through, the Mariners would receive Indians outfielder Franklin Gutierrez and the Indians would receive Mets right-handed reliever Joe Smith and Mariners infielder Luis Valbuena.

Mets right-hander Aaron Heilman and Mariners outfielder Jeremy Reed are also believed to be involved, though it was unclear who would be headed where.

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Omg

It's offical now

10:17pm: MLB.com's Jim Street confirmed the deal. The Mariners give up Putz, Green, and Reed and get Heilman, Chavez, Carp, and Gutierrez. The Indians give up Gutierrez and get Valbuena and Smith. The Mets give up Heilman, Chavez, Carp, and Smith to get Putz, Green, and Reed.

DUDE! Endy's leaving! :(

Boo. This sucks. I guess the outfield will be Chavez, Ichiro and Gutierrez. I'll bet Heilman will start and I'm not that familiar with Carp. All I know is that he is a 1B. Is he highly regarded? Not sure why they gave up Valbuena. I thought he was better than Lopez.

Is Beltre next?

wow....just....wow

This might be bigger for the Mets than acquiring K-Rod. If Putz can be dominating like he was 2 years ago for Seattle, the 8th and 9th inning can be automatic.

Yeah. This is HUGE for the Mets. The only thing of consequence that they lost was Carp, really. Excellent, excellent trade.

So:
Mets get J.J. Putz, Jeremy Reed, and Sean Green
Indians get Joe Smith and Luis Valbuena
Seatle gets Aaron Heilman, Mike Carp, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas, Ezequiel Carrera, Maikel Cleto, and Franklin Gutierrez

Haven't heard anything about the two prospects the Mets gave up.

How good is Carp?

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Originally Posted by asianinvasion

How good is Carp?

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Pretty solid first base prospect. Not a star, but a good player.

Is he Major League ready right now? Could he be the starter come opening day?

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Originally Posted by asianinvasion

Is he Major League ready right now? Could he be the starter come opening day?

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Maybe. He likely needs some AAA seasoning. He hit .299/.403/.471 in AA last year as a 22 year old.

Not sure what to think about this trade being a Mariners fan. I did want them to get rid of Putz but I'm not sure about anyone they got.

The mariners OF looks a bit jammed at this point to me though. Wladimier Balentien, Ichiro, Endy Chavez, Franklin Gutierrez and possibly Ibanez? Although at this point I'm not 100% sure they're gonna get Ibanez and if they do I guess they're moving him to DH?

I would guess next year, whether or not Ibanez comes back, the OF will most likely be

LF: Balentien
CF: Ichiro
RF: Gutierrez

my guess anyways.


Looks like the defense got better and apparently Mike Carp was the Mets 5th best prospect (According to Keith Law at least). Not so sure about the others though.

Balentien and Chavez can platoon at LF like how Balentien and Reed did. But I liked Green. Hmmm, now we have a logjam in the rotation.
Felix, Washburn, Batista, Silva, Morrow, Rowland-Smith, Heilman, Bedard. Washburn and Batista may be traded/cut before the season starts though

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Originally Posted by asianinvasion

Hmmm, now we have a logjam in the rotation.
Felix, Washburn, Batista, Silva, Morrow, Rowland-Smith, Heilman, Bedard. Washburn and Batista may be traded/cut before the season starts though

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I would expect them to obviously have Bedard, Felix and Washburn in their unless like you say they trade Washburn (Which they should). If it were me I would probably have

Felix
Bedard
Silva
Heilman
Morrow

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Originally Posted by 200tang

I would expect them to obviously have Bedard, Felix and Washburn in their unless like you say they trade Washburn (Which they should). If it were me I would probably have

Felix
Bedard
Silva
Heilman
Morrow

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Silva needs to retire - he is horrid.

Heilman really shouldn't be in the discussion for a rotation spot, no matter how much he wants it.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Heilman really shouldn't be in the discussion for a rotation spot, no matter how much he wants it.

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Neither should Silva.

Good trade by the M's. The defense upgrade makes up for the lack of having Ibanez' bat next year. Heilman can be closer, we're not going to contend next year anyway. Woo. Go Z.

I think it's a good trade for the M's IF and ONLY IF Morrow is still on track to start and not remain in the bullpen.

If Z thinks Morrow is the potential Putz replacement, then I'm not so sure this is a win for the M's. I'm hoping they convince Heilman to close and not start, and keep Morrow in the rotation.

An outfield of Chavez/Gutierrez/Ichiro could be pretty fun to watch.

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Originally Posted by WHAK0985

I think it's a good trade for the M's IF and ONLY IF Morrow is still on track to start and not remain in the bullpen.

If Z thinks Morrow is the potential Putz replacement, then I'm not so sure this is a win for the M's. I'm hoping they convince Heilman to close and not start, and keep Morrow in the rotation.

An outfield of Chavez/Gutierrez/Ichiro could be pretty fun to watch.

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That's a quick outfield.

Can Gutierrez play center?

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Originally Posted by asianinvasion

Can Gutierrez play center?

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Yes

Silva should retire, but with the money he's making he had better pitch.

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Originally Posted by 200tang

Silva should retire, but with the money he's making he had better pitch.

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Silva had a good first month or so, but even then, he was just average, the problem he went from being average to sucky....if he can just be average, that would be great, just a good #5 for a contender would be ideal.

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Originally Posted by boomboom

Silva had a good first month or so, but even then, he was just average, the problem he went from being average to sucky....if he can just be average, that would be great, just a good #5 for a contender would be ideal.

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BTW: good trade for the M's. JJ has been getting hurt lately and he is getting older. I also thou think this is an outstanding trade for the Mets, and the Indians picked up some good pieces.

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Originally Posted by boomboom

BTW: good trade for the M's. JJ has been getting hurt lately and he is getting older. I also thou think this is an outstanding trade for the Mets, and the Indians picked up some good pieces.

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He did, and he can be an average pitcher, problem is he most likely wont be. But again, if they're paying him as much as they are you're almost forced to play him.

Rob Neyer:

" Just a few quick takeaways on Wednesday night's many-tentacled trade: 1) If the Mariners add Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez to Ichiro Suzuki as everyday players, they'll have one of the greatest defensive outfields we've seen; 2) it's not clear why the Indians were involved, unless they have some serious man-crush on Joe Smith; and 3) if the Mets really are going to keep J.J. Putz and use him as their set-up man, this trade has probably cost Putz many millions of dollars in future salaries. Because teams don't pay ninth-inning money to eighth-inning pitchers."

Great trade for Mets, finally a team that gets to win you need a good bullpen.

They won't choke this year IMO.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

Rob Neyer:

" Just a few quick takeaways on Wednesday night's many-tentacled trade: 1) If the Mariners add Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez to Ichiro Suzuki as everyday players, they'll have one of the greatest defensive outfields we've seen; 2) it's not clear why the Indians were involved, unless they have some serious man-crush on Joe Smith; and 3) if the Mets really are going to keep J.J. Putz and use him as their set-up man, this trade has probably cost Putz many millions of dollars in future salaries. Because teams don't pay ninth-inning money to eighth-inning pitchers."

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I sort of disagree with number 3. Everyone knows that Putz can handle the 9th and he wasn't taken out of it because of performance. If he stays as good as he is and opts to go to the FA market someone will want him to be their closer and would be willing to pay.

VERY good trade for the Mets, wow, i was not expecting this.

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Originally Posted by 200tang

I sort of disagree with number 3. Everyone knows that Putz can handle the 9th and he wasn't taken out of it because of performance. If he stays as good as he is and opts to go to the FA market someone will want him to be their closer and would be willing to pay.

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You'd think that's how it'd work, and logically, that's how it should, but the lack of saves is detrimental to a player's earning power. He'll get paid as a setup guy, even if the team wants to use him as their closer.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

You'd think that's how it'd work, and logically, that's how it should, but the lack of saves is detrimental to a player's earning power. He'll get paid as a setup guy, even if the team wants to use him as their closer.

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That is true I suppose, good for whatever team signs him I suppose.

Does anyone feel like K-Rod is going to get some significant injury or break down during the year or is it just me though?

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Originally Posted by 200tang

Does anyone feel like K-Rod is going to get some significant injury or break down during the year or is it just me though?

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During this year? Nah. During the length of the contract? Possibly.

Keeping with the Mets, they selected 2 RP in the Rule V draft, Darren O'Day and Rocky Cherry, both of whom have ML experience.